1. Technical Field
This disclosure relates to systems, methods, and apparatus for providing illumination.
2. Relevant Art
Recent trends in building design involve using one or more sets of decorative panels to add to the functional and/or aesthetic characteristics of a given structure or design space. In particular, the use of polymeric panels is becoming increasingly popular in lighting applications. Such polymeric materials may be manufactured to be more resilient and to have a similar transparent, translucent, or decorative appearance as cast or laminated glass, but with less cost. In addition, polymer-based materials tend to be more versatile or manipulatable in terms of manufacture and assembly as they can be relatively easily bent, molded, colored, textured, shaped, gauged, cut, and otherwise modified in a variety of different ways and can provide a larger variety of colors, images, interlayers, shapes, and impact resistance than can glass.
Certain polymer-based lighting applications involve the coupling of polymeric sheet material, or panels, to form a lighting structure. The panels can be curved (or rounded), angled, or linear, depending on the design of the lighting structure. Some applications involve coupling multiple smaller polymer-based lighting modules to form a larger modular lighting assembly. Modules and modular assemblies may also be formed of connected polymeric panels. One drawback to such connection systems includes the unsightly gap or seam between two panels or lighting modules at the site of coupling, especially at edges of the lighting fixture, as well as shadows, dark spots, and/or other unsightly byproducts or consequences of the design, manufacturing, and/or assembling process(es). Seams and/or features of this sort may detract from the aesthetic appeal of the lighting element. Furthermore, modular lighting concepts often include connective and other support or mounting hardware that is visible and aesthetically unappealing.
Accordingly, there are a number of limitations and/or disadvantages in polymer-based lighting fixtures that can be addressed.